Conscious Eating and Nutrition

I would like to choose to believe that if you are reading this then nutrition and healthy eating is important to you, it is to me too.   I was brought up in a home where brown bread was introduced at a time where my friends where eating white bread and I grew to like it.  Today I know that when I eat healthily, psychologically it feels right. 

I know that I feel good inside.  If I eat something and afterwards regret it then I have caused double and perhaps triple the damage. Let's take eating a piece of cake for instance.  Let's say that I was not hungry and the cake was there and without thinking I eat it.  Then thoughts may arise:"Why did you eat that cake?  You don’t even like cake.  There is so little nutritional value and its high in unnatural white sugar and white flour.." and more thoughts may come up like "you should have known better.  It was not even that nice. 

Why didn’t you stop after the first bite?"  So I have not enjoyed the cake, I ate it unconsciously and didn’t enjoy it, I blamed and criticized myself which is not good for one's health and of course it would have been much better to go for something more nutritious. I believe that the thoughts themselves are much more harmful than that little indiscretion of eating the cake.  

Our thinking can be described as verbal abuse, only directed at myself and most often without realization of this, especially in the present moment.  Once you are conscious of your unconsciousness (the negative thinking which we don’t notice) you have already reached a higher spiritual self. 

You know that you want to make different choices as regards your nutrition and also your thinking, and you want to have the power to do so (see Emotional Mastery).  This for me means you are already enlightened.  You are in a different place to the person that eats the hamburger chips and coke and it does not bother him/her. 

Therefore if you are going to eat a hamburger then at least enjoy it and work on your mindfulness (see Mindfulness). Being mindful and aware can give you the power to see your negative thinking as something that arises (a part of you that you would like to change) You could question the thoughts and when you ask is it true? You could say…I know what I am doing….I am enjoying a juicy burger which I don’t do very often so please be quiet.    

Tips for healthy eating. 

Start somewhere.  I always try to introduce a new healthy habit every so often.  That every so often depends on you and the pace that is right for you.  I believe that gradual steps are longer lasting.  Also work on yourself and be a model for others rather than trying to change them.  (like your partner or kids) 

Water – this is the number one biggie for health. The reason is that our bodies contain 60-70% water.  Purified, chemical free water is very important.  In summer we need to drink more and more so if we exercise.  I would say at least 8-10 glasses a day depending on your size.  Also overdrinking of water is not good so don’t go the other way. 

Cooking vegetables – what I believe is that the more veg you eat the better.  I also believe that it's better to eat vegetables cooked in a delicious creamy sauce than to not eat them at all as they are tasteless for you.   I also like to cook stir-fry with a good Thai sauce and add full grain rice or noodles to this.

Salads - Find recipes that are appealing to you.  Add cooked vegetable too and avocado, nuts and cranberries to your salads.  Try a new homemade dressing with honey if you have a sweet tooth.

Soups – in winter there is nothing like homemade delicious vegetable soup rich in vitamins.  Any vegetable soup, even onion soup and adding homemade whole-wheat croutons (toast square whole-wheat bread cut it into small squares and pop it in the oven to get harder)

Fruit shake – I love fruit shakes which I make water based in a blender.  You can add a variety of fruits or combine different ones each time.  Melon, strawberries, grapes, apples, mango, banana …. Whatever you like and you may also add some dates to sweeten it. 

Vegetable Drink – If you have a juicer then try a carrot drink with a bit of ginger.  The ginger for me gives it such an interesting ting, I love it.  Another thing I learnt from a friend of mine who is a vegan, that the more greens the better so I try to also pop in a cucumber and some celery.  Play around and try the different tastes.

Soya latte – over the last year I gave up milk in my coffee and got used to drinking soya milk.  I didn’t like it the first time but continued to persevere as I really wanted to give up the milk.

Humus – humus is easy to make and is a very nutritious spread on bread and also eaten together with vegetables or protein.  You can buy already cooked frozen chick peas or boil them up yourself. 2 cups cooked chick peas, 1/2 cup of water, 4 TB techini (use 100% full seseme), 1 garlic clove, juice of 1 small lemon, dash salt.  Blend in the food processer.  I serve this cold but it can be served warm as well.  When serving in a bowl, it's nice to decorate with a few whole chick peas on top and you can dribble olive oil on top and also paprika or finely chopped parsley - enjoy! 

Techina – this is an excellent source for calcium and even more so if you buy the full grain sesame Techina.  Make this in a blender by putting in a nice amount of Techina and slowly adding water until it turns white.  Add chopped parsely, garlic, salt and pepper and lemon according to your taste.  The more parsely the greener you will get your Techina.  You can also experiment by adding cooked red pepper in the blender to have a red looking Techina.  If you like garlic add more, its very healthy.

Less Caffeine – I love my coffee.  Caffeine is worth considering to reduce.  It adds to ones stress and level of irritation and is a retainer of water.   Just by reducing this it can help you to loose weight.  Everyone needs to find their own tricks.  Mine is that after 11:00 am I don’t drink coffee.  This way I keep it to a minimum.

Pesto – Make your own fresh pesto.  I make this without parmesan. I use half quantity parsley and half basil, add olive oil and pine nuts.  This is delicious even spread on whole-wheat bread or as a base for a salad dressing.

Exercise – Mindful eating 

This is a mindfulness exercise that is so easy to do as we eat usually at least 3 times a day, sometimes more.    If you are eating alone then it's important not to read anything, or watch TV or listen to the radio, do nothing while you eat.  It's amazing how our minds are continuously looking for stimulation. 

Prepare yourself something to eat and sit down to eat.  Notice how you sit, look at what is on your plate and perhaps reflect on the different colors on your plate.  As you take each bite be thankful for what you have.  Give thanks to the food and to G-d and to yourself. 

Food is energy when we appreciate it and love what we eat then this positive energy goes into us.  So watch how you eat and with each chew savor the taste, the aroma, notice how you eat.  Notice the activities of your mind.  Where is your mind?  This means to notice if your mind wanders into the future about planning or is dwelling on something from the past, just notice and gently bring yourself back to the present, to your eating and the moment you are in. 

Recommended readings:

8 weeks to optimum health – Andrew Weil MD Eight Weeks to Optimum Health